It matters not if you just brought a puppy home or an older dog starts the habit, the first time you come home to a pair of chewed up sneakers is a real "eye-opener". If left unchallenged the chewing habit can quickly become quite a irritating as well as destructive. It is necessary to recognize that chewing seems to be a matter of choice that is individual in dogs. While some have the desire to chew as a self serving activity of pleasure others seem to have no natural need to chew. There is, however, point where boredom can induce the chewing habit in otherwise "non-chewers".
Destructive chewing by definition sounds redundant, because --by its very nature--all chewing is destructive to a point. A dogs mouth consists of incredibly strong jaws that are full of sharp and pointed teeth. So just about anything she chews will quickly show the effects and the destruction. So clarification is necessary to further define "destructive chewing" as "inappropriate chewing" that is focused on your possessions and household items instead of the designated dog toys and chews.
The reasons why dogs chew?
- Chewing is a natural desire. It is a fabulous time passer and it is fun as well as a rewarding self-rewarding and self-reinforcing activity. (an example would be chewing on something that has a good taste).
- Chewing provides an outlet for a lonely, bored or nervous animal. It is a "doggy" equivalent of comfort food, as the repetitive act of chewing can be soothing and provides an outlet for emotions.
- Chewing can quickly become a habit for under exercised animals. If you do not provide exercise and a change of scenery for your animal chewing cannot be very far behind.
Learning to not chew your stuff is well within the learning capabilities of your animal. The learning must start with you and you must put some effort into the training. There are a few necessary steps needed to implement the training.
1. Take control of your habitat and "dog-proof" your home. Your pet can be the best behaved dog in the universe and then lose control when tested beyond her self-control. It needs to be understood that all dogs explore their worlds with their mouths.
Control of your environment means to move anything you do not want in your dogs mouth out of reach of the pet. You need to consider the size and agility of the dog in order to accomplish this. How high can she jump? Is she capable of climbing from floor to chair to counter? Can she stand on her hind legs in order to reach the object of her interest?
Common targets of chewing destruction can include books, clothing (smells like you), shoes (again the smell), garbage and any small object as cell phones and cameras. If it smell good, tastes good, or has any king of crunch to it then it is desirable for chewing. If you do not want to come home to find the remote control in seven pieces scattered over the living floor then do not leave it within reach of your puppy!
And food? Should not be necessary to state that all food should be put away. Low tables, accessible counter tops or open pantry doors automatically lead to trouble. Recognize the agility or acrobatic ability of your pet and do not (DO NOT!) tempt her by leaving table scraps or thawing steaks within reach of that set of teeth. Could be stated that you have a choice of cleaning up now or cleaning up later so make a decision and stand by it.
2. Choose what items will be "illegal" and then prevent your animal from learning the joys of chewing them. If you allow a "cute" habit of chewing a chair leg or one or your running shoes then you have set the stage for failure in controlling inappropriate chewing. It is much simpler to prevent the start of a chewing habit than it is to stop one. If you need to keep your pet in a chew-proof area of the house while she is learning then by all means do so. Again, do not allow the habit to form and you will not be frustrated with the curing of it later on.
3. Once you have set the rules for proper chewing then do not set your dog up for failure by blurring the boundaries. If you have decided that chewing of shoes is not allowed then do not give the animal a worn out shoes for her to chew on. Your dog will not be able to tell the difference between her cast off toy shoe and the $200.00 running shoes she just found on your bedroom floor.
4. You cannot keep EVERYTHING from your pet. While you are training her what NOT to chew on you need to provide her something TO chew on. Would be a good chance to go on a shopping trip to the local pet supply store and stock chews and toys that are allowable. A good practice would be to rotate these toys two or three at a time to curtail boredom. All that you have accomplished in the training can go down the toilet in one afternoon if you allow the boredom to set in again. Especially for a puppy. Remember that all dogs need to chew. Adolescence and puppies will need to chew more than an adult dog but all ages need be given the capability to refrain from inappropriate chewing.
5. Supervised activity. What an awful name for simply playing with your dog. You could possibly keep her penned or caged up the majority of time --but then she would be extremely bored and horrible for her. I do not believe that it would give you much satisfaction either. A proper reason for having the pet in the first place is companionship. If you do not allow interaction with you and the freedom to explore the boundaries of your expectations then neither of you will benefit from the relationship. In actuality, if you wanted a pet you did not need to interact with then you should have purchased a goldfish. Play time, walks and other forms of exercise will relieve boredom and cure many emotional problems for your pet. Probably will not hurt you either.
6. Especially within the initial period of training you may catch your dog chewing something not allowed. This is a good time for a training lesson. Clap your hands or make some other form of loud noise. Then as soon as she quits the chewing immediately hand her a tasty or otherwise appropriate alternative and lavishly praise her for taking the new item. There is no better way for your dog to understand that appropriate chewing equals praise from you, and that everything else equals trouble.
Above all, in the training of your animal, maintain a productive and positive attitude. And keep your expectations realistic. You are not perfect and you should not expect perfection from your animal. You should expect at least one incident where you animal damages a cherished item out of curiosity or boredom.
In the early training your dog will be learning the ropes so it is up to you. You are the one who can set the limits and enforce them. Just be aware that even when you feel she is completely reliable there can be mistakes. Time to learn the rules is necessary. Even then, if she is left to herself too much she may choose to chew something precious to you rather than the stick of rawhide you left her with over twelve hours ago!
For further hints on dog training techniques and methods of dealing with a problem dog please visit me.
| glchandler |
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